Malaysia Team Preview: Being the hosts, can they leave their mark?

This tournament will be the seventh edition of the ACC Women’s Asia Cup and the third edition to be played in the T20 format. Except for the host team, all the remaining teams have played before. Malaysia will take part for the first time in this tournament.

Here is the preview on the Team Malaysia:

 

Key Players:

Noor Hayati Zakaria will be the key bowler. The young leg-spinner is one to watch having taken 5 wickets in 4 games in the ASEAN Women’s T20 Open Tournament in Thailand earlier this year. With undisputable talent, the only question is whether the 16-year-old will be able to hold her nerve against experienced opposition.

Christina Baret is another player who Malaysia will be relying heavily on.  The left-handed opener has nerves of steel, however, has the tendency to make fatal mistakes early on in her innings.  Finally, captain Winifred Dur deserves a mention as the team’s number one all-rounder.

 

Strengths:

As the unquestionable underdogs, this young team will be looking to get as many runs and wickets as they can.  Their biggest advantage in this competition will be that their opponents may well underestimate them.

 

Weaknesses:

Malaysia’s key weakness is the team’s lack of experience. In the batting department, they tend to collapse under pressure, and in the bowling, they give far too much width.

They have fallen to teams far weaker than Pakistan and India in the recent past and will have an uphill battle ahead of them.

 

Previous Results:

After failing to make an impact in the ASEAN women’s T20 in February this year and coming in the bottom of the table, Malaysia has nowhere to go besides upwards. They will be looking to learn from their opponents, and maybe even cause an upset.

As their narrow loss to Hong Kong showed, the team definitely have talent and grit but will it be enough?

Asia Cup full schedule here

 

Squad:

Winifred Anne Duraisingam, Nur Nadhirah Mohd Nasaruddin, Yusrina Yaakop, Christina Nina Baret, Intan Jamahidayu Jaafar, Mas Elysa Yasmin Zulkifli, Zumika Azmi, Mahirah Izzati Ismail, Wan Julia Wan Mohd Rosli, Dhanusri Sri  Muhunan, Aina Najwa Abdul Rahman, Sasha Azmi, Ainna Hamizah Hashim, Noor Hayati Zakaria, Arianna Natasya Benn Rakquidean

Reserve:

Afiqah Fatin Farhana Azman, Nur Syazwina Hanim Abdul Halim, Emylia Eliani Mohd Rahim.

*This article was updated on 03/06/2018 at 03 AM GMT.